Binder



F. D. MOORE BINDER Filed March '17, 1956 INVTOR. Fem on Do oove ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in binders, and more particularly to loose-leaf binders.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: To provide an im proved loose-leaf binding for loose-leaf books; to provide a structure wherein the leaves may be opened to a perfectly fiat condition throughout the book; to prevent curling or otherwise adversely affecting the leaves at their inner edges upon closing the book; to utilize means threaded through registering holes of the several pages which will slide in said holes as the book is opened and closed; to mount said means so it may likewise slide with respect to at least one cover (back or front) of the book; to further utilize the said means for facilitating insertion and removal of pages; to provide means of adequate flexibility toward and from the covers, but non-flexible toward top and bottom of the book; to lock the flexible members from inadvertent release without interfering with the sliding and flexing action thereof; to incorporate an inherent action in said members for keeping the pages :53 drawn toward the spine of the book; to secure simplicity of construction and operation; and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

In the drawing Figure 1 is an inside face view of the cover in open position, with all pages omitted;

Figure 2 is a sectional view crosswise of the book, shown as taken on line 22 of Figure 1, and with the book substantially closed and havzzzjing pages therein; I

Figure 3 is a similar sectional view with the book spread open;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through the locking device, shown as taken on line 44 in of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a face view of the blank which is to be completed for constituting the floating page-holding member;

Figure 6 is an edge view of the floating page- .5 holding member partially completed;

Figure 7 is a perspective View of the completed floating page-holding member;

Figure 8 is an end view of a modified construction of cover; and

Figure 9 is a face view of a modified construction of floating member.

As seen in the drawing, the reference numeral 5% denotes the cover in general, here shown as consisting of a middle portion or spine ll of ap- 55 propriate width to accommodate the desired bulk of pages. From the spine extends an outside front cover [2 and an outside back cover l3, all of these parts preferably being integral with the rear edge of the front cover merging intoone edge of the spine, as at crease line l4 therebetween, and the rear cover l3 merging into the other edge of the spine, as at crease line I5 therebetween. The cover l0 furthermore contemplates the provision of inside front and back covers, which, in the preferred embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 are constituted as integral inside front cover l6 folded inward from the front edge of the outside front cover l2, as at crease line H, and similarly an integral inside back cover l8 folded inwardly from the outer edge of the outside back cover, as upon crease line Hi. It is understood in the foregoing and in the following description that I have arbitrarily referred to one cover section as the front and to the other as the back, but that is done for purposes of more ready identification and description, and is not restrictive as to which, in use, shall actually constitute the front and back covers l2 and I3 and it is preferable that, with the book in closed position, the inner edges of said inside covers shall not reach or engage the spine.

By preference, the inside covers are arranged to normally tend to swing away from the respective outer covers at those margins of the inner covers next the spine, the utility of this feature being subsequently explained herein. Sufiice it to say for the present, that this spreading-apart tendency for the inner margins of the inner covers is secured by virtue of the inherent resiliency of the cover material, and in Figure 2, is accomplished by avoiding too sharp a crease line I! or E9 between the inner and outer covers. The result may be otherwise accomplished, however, as by an inherent curling tendency produced in the material comprising the inner cover, if desired. Such a disposition is indicated in Figure 8, wherein the margins of the inner covers l6 and I8 next the forward edges of the covers l2 and [3 are glued or otherwise secured to the outer covers, whereas the inner margins of the inner covers toward the spine II are unattached and normally assume a position such as shown in Figure 8 swung inward of the book. Gluing of the forward margins of the respective inside and outside covers has the added advantage of enabling the cover to be trimmed at its forward edge. Likewise, in the construction of Figure 8, the inner covers may be made of different material from the outer covers if so desired, which enables the use of especially made 7 case is flexible andresilient.

material with the requisite inherent curling tendency for the inner covers and other material of a flat nature for the outer covers.

The book is designed to receive loose-leaf or removable pages 25, here shown as very nearly the size of the outer covers, and which, when the book is closed, extend from the overhanging margins of the covers at the forward edge thereof, to the spine ll of the book. Next the spine edge of the pages, the same are provided with slots or other openings for receiving the novel binding devices of the present invention. In the present showing, two binding devices are illustrated, one near the top of the book and one near the bottom, but other number and disposition of the binding devices may be used,'as will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Description of one of the binding devices will now be given, it being understood that it applies as toboth.

Referring initially to Figure 5, it will be observed that the binding device is identified in general by numeral 2!, and may conveniently be constructed from a strip of Celluloid or the like which is preferably thin and dependent on the size and thickness of the book, but in any For small books of the type illustrated, I prefer to use a material of the nature of Celluloid that is no thicker than approximately twenty-pound paper. The strip, as shown, has one marginal end portion or tongue 22 covered on both sides with adhesive 23 suitable for use upon the particular material of, which the strip is composed. This tongue 22 is bent back, asupon transverse crease line 24, upon the adjacent body of the strip and made to adhere thereto. Thenthe strip is doubledapproximately midway of its length to bring the exposed side of the tongue into fiatwise engagement with the body of the strip near its other end, as shown in Figure 6, and made to adhere thereto. The'tongue is therefore between two plies of material, and by virtueiof theadhesion of the tongue to both plies, a relatively, rigid tip 25 is provided, whichrnay be trimmed with a rounded end 26 shown in Figure 7. In doubling the strip at its approximate mid-point and in the securing of the parts of the tip together, one ply, as 26, of the body of the strip is preferably madeshorter than the other ply 2? between the doubling'and said tongue, soas to obtain a natural or inherent tendency in the device to curl, 7

One successful method of obtaining the desired differential in lengths of the plies 26 and 21, consists in holding the strips at the place where doubled and then, before the strips have adhered, bend them over the, edge of a plate with the held-end on one side of the plate and the end to be adhered upon the other side of the plate, and then causing the adhesion of the tongue to the ply to become effective. By choosing a thickness of plate substantially that of the anticipated filler of leaves for the book, the strip will tend to assume the position of a closed book. Other methods may be employed for obtaining the length differential desired, such for instance as by making no crease or positive line of midbending of the strip, but bringing the tongue into its position of adhesion to the second end of the strip, then holding the three'plies of the tip 25 end against the plate on one side while smoothing the strip down against the plate, over the edge of the plate and down upon the other side to the doubled part which is thereupon creased. The resultant structure secures a closed loop mounted in use.

between the two plies of material from the doubled end thereof to the inner end of tongue 22.

Both of the inner covers Ha, l8 are provided with openings or slots 28 next their inner edges to correspond and approximately register with the openings or slots in the pages for the book. The binding device 2! is shown inserted through the slot 28 in the inside front cover iii so that the looped end of the device is situated between the outside and inside front covers. A mid-part of the binding device extends across the inside of the spine H from the opening 28 in the inside front cover to the opening 23 in the inside back cover. It is upon this mid-part of the device that the several pages of'the book are The inside back cover has another opening 29 parallel to the first said opening, thus enabling the strip device which enters beneath the inside cover through the first opening to return through the second to be exposed on the available face of the inside cover to facilitate removal or insertion of one or more sheets. Both said front inside cover iii and back inside cover i8 may be constructed alike, that is, with all ends of the binding devices 2! exposed, or all entirely concealed between the inner and outer covers.

Locking means is provided for retaining the binding device from inadvertent withdrawal from cured, as by glue, to the inner cover, and thus prevent the bar from being removed from the book. In this instance, since the bar (it is flexible and attached only at a mid-portion of itself, the ends are left loose so they can be bowed away from the cover to withdraw them from the binding devices 2i. By having the bar at the front of the book beneath the inner cover it, it is less accessible to the user, and will therefore not ordinarily be removed from the loops of the binding device.

The other bar is upon the accessible face of the shown and described the bars at as being permanently attached to the respective covers, I do not necessarily confine myself to the specific construction, as other methods of attaching the bars may be readily adapted. In this connection, bars of like nature may be integral with the covers or to be made easily removable to facilitate withdrawal of the binding devices 25.

One or two important observations are to be made before proceeding further. The binding devices are applied in the book in a manner such that the inherent bending or curling tendency of the same coincides with the closing of the book. This has several effects of which maybe noted the fact that the binding devices will tend to swing the inner covers toward the pages as, and inward away from the outer covers. Another effect is that with the book in closed condition the binding device more or less parallels the natural curvature of the spine, and when the book is opened, the mid-section of the binding device 2| will have a decided tendency to first flatten and then curve away from the said spine Ii. As the book is opened, the binding device slides inward with respect to one or both covers. The return of the device through the opening is greatly facilitated by its inward curling tendency when closing the book. Again, it is to be noted that the length of the loop of the binding device is greater than the width of the bar 30 when the book is open, so as to afford requisite curvature in the device for receiving as many pages as desired, and to permit free and full opening of the book.

A further and highly important feature of my invention resides in the action of the inner edge of the inside cover portion in keeping the margin of the next adjacent page from curling up when the cover is being swung with respect to and toward said page. The feature is efiective when all of the pages are stacked upon one cover, with the cover open and during the closing from such open position to closed position of the book. Considering the pages all stacked upon the book cover of the book with the book open to the first page thereby also exposing the inner face of the front cover, the free inner edge of inner member [6 of the cover will tend to ride up the curved portion of the binding devices 2! while the cover is being swung to close it over the stack of pages. This riding of the inside portion of the cover along the curved portion of the binding device causes the inside cover to assume a position above the level of the first page, and as the book is then closed, the inner edge of the said inner cover almost immediately engages the face of the top page of the stack of pages in the area of the top page between its spine edge and the place of passage of the binding device through the page, and presses the page down as the cover is swung up to a perpendicular position with respect to the page. Continued, movement of the cover to close the book causes the inner edge of the inner cover to retract across the inner margin of the page in a direction toward the spine. The inner margin of the front page is therefore always kept flat and is not subject to the usual bending, crinkling and tearing hardships of the present-day front page of loose-leaf books.

According to the modification of Figure 9, it is within the scope of the invention to employ other binding devices than the specific one described above. I have there shown a binding device 2i both ends of which have arrow-head tips 25 thereon. These tips are preferably wider than the openings in the cover, and after being inserted in said openings will resist inadvertent retraction by virtue of the locking means or shoulders 30 at the rear ends of the arrow heads. Such or similar construction does not require the binding device 2| to be a loop or laminated, and permits the elimination of the separate bar locking device 313 of Figure 1.

Obviously, detail changes and modifications may be made in the construction and use of my improved book without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction or operation, shown or described except as set forth in the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A binder comprising an outer cover, and an inner cover having holes therein through the thickness of a portion thereof, and binding means for pages, said binding means extending through said holes and being resilient and slidable with respect to the inner cover as the binder is opened and closed in use.

2. A binder comprising an outer cover, and an inner cover having holes therein through the thickness of a portion thereof, binding means for pages, said binding means extending through said holes and being resilient and slidable through said holes during the normal opening and closing of the binder, and locking means for preventing inadvertent withdrawal of said binding means from said holes, said binding means being slidable with respect to the locking means to the extent of sliding of the binding means in said holes during said normal opening and closing of the binder, said locking means being slidable from the binding means in another direction from the aforementioned sliding for purposes of releas ing said locking means from the binding means.

3. A binder having a spine and inner and outer front and back covers, the inner covers having edges toward the spine movable toward and away from the outer covers, and a binding device extending across the spine to said inner covers in operative connection therewith, said binding device being resilient and tensioned to normally tend to draw said inner covers toward each other and away from the respective adjacent outer covers.

4. A binder having a spine and inner and outer front and back covers, the inner covers having inner edges towards the spine movable toward and away from the outer covers, said inner covers having an inherent resilient actuation imparted to swing the said inner edges normally away from the outer covers, and a binding device extending across the spine and mounted upon said inner covers.

FEARON D. MOORE. 

